Support-free bids accepted again in Germany’s second offshore wind auction as average support surges

More investors offered to build offshore wind farms without any financial support in Germany’s second offshore wind power auction, but the average support rate increased significantly compared to the previous auction, the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) says in a press release. Average support in the auction of 1.6 gigawatt (GW) capacity surged to 4.66 cents per kilowatt hour (ct/kWh) after it stood at 0.44 ct/kWh in the first auction in 2017, a result that surprised many observers at the time. “The new result reflects the changes in competition that we see with respect to the first auction,” BNetzA head Jochen Homann said. Only projects already participating in the first auction were considered and a “Baltic quota” preferred bids for the Baltic Sea over those for the North Sea to contribute to a more even distribution of turbines in German waters. The highest accepted bid was 9.83 ct/kWh. Homann added that it was “pleasing” to see that idle grid connection capacities would now be utilised almost completely, avoiding “unnecessary vacancy costs.”